I often hear people say they want to “maximize” their strength-training workouts. The translation of this statement is usually “my workouts aren’t giving me what I want.” If this is you, you’re smart to think you should be doing something differently to build muscle or lose fat. But what is that “something?” You can improve your workouts – and your body composition– by changing an almost endless array of variables. Here are just three ways to start seeing better progress immediately. Avoid Ineffective {Read More…}

When you find the perfect training split, it’s like a muscled, well-oiled machine. You go. You lift. It hums. But if it somehow doesn’t gel with your schedule, personal preferences, or experience level, how you divide up your training can be a huge pain in the butt. At best, you barely make your workouts. At worst, you end up quitting. The split that works best for you will evolve as you evolve. While people may insist that their split is {Read More…}

Ever since I started periodizing my training, I’ve had to grapple with entire weeks of backing off the weights. As those who lift smartly know, you can’t go hard every single day. There need to be lighter intensity weeks cycled in so that your joints can recover from the stress of hard training. I went hard nonstop for years because I hate backing off the weights. Having to lift lighter during my usual routine makes it very hard for me {Read More…}

I see a plethora of workouts posted online with high reps schemes – and by high I mean above 25. Some workouts boast reps as high as 100, and I sometimes I wonder about the point of these workouts. To be a badass and say you did it, or…? I’ll get to that in a moment. There’s a lot of confusion about muscular endurance training as it relates to weightlifting – what exactly is it and how is it beneficial {Read More…}

I’ve talked about the benefits of supersets but sometimes we need a fresh kick in the pants to challenge ourselves (or just a fresh workout). Sure, supersets can overload your muscles, save time and help break us out plateaus. But as with anything, supersets (two exercises back to back without rest) can become boring and routine if repeated relentlessly. That’s why a little creativity goes a long way. (In case you didn’t know, you can be creative with your workouts. They can be fun!) {Read More…}

Congrats to April Sorrow (@AprilS_2010), the winner of the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered. Now that you’re thinking about intervals, let’s see how you can use them to achieve your goals! _____________________ For people wanting to lose weight and/or increase stamina while retaining muscle, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) really does live up to its promises. It’s a proven way to (1) increase your metabolic rate, (2) torch the same number of calories in much less time than conventional cardio, and {Read More…}